blush

 purple

 I always love the sets at the Celine fashion shows. Often - thought not always - held at the Tennis Club, they tend to run along that fine line of graphic minimalism, with organic materials, modernistic seating and something dynamic to hold it all together. The ceiling display this year is what really caught my eye. The opaque lightboxes were beautifully rendered, and those long, slightly haphazard stretches of blush and white paint. The white - splodgy and impatiently daubed on with the air of something done not for posterity but for convenience - reminds me of the stores, with their exposed wiring and waxed floors, so low-fi that when I first went into the Celine store on Madison Ave in New York I thought it hadn't been finished yet (faux pas). But it's the blush that is best. That beautiful, rosy-cheeked pink hue, that reminds me of all those lovely Benah bags from a couple of seasons ago, that reminds of me of Talisa and her paintings last year, that reminds me of being young and sweet, so unlike Celine, which makes it very like Celine indeed. That pink - with its white blemishes throughout - is the perfect reflection.

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effortless

purple diary

"Nobody does it better, makes me feel sad for the rest." Phoebe, nobody does it quite as good as you. There are imitators, oh yes, they populate the other brands, they've infiltrated the high street, they think they dictate the trends and blaze the trail but the fact, the sad, sad fact, is that they've got nothing on you. They can't cut a coat the way you can, cropped and swingy, sitting with the lapels closed just at the right spot, or hanging low from the shoulders, flaring at the back, cinching in fold after wonderful, wonderful fold with an oversized belt-tie. They can't conceive of a skirt the way you can, fitted at the waist and darting out, softly, with feminine grace and elegance, from the hips, curving at the hem with the sophistication of a ballet dancer. They can't reclaim the turtleneck like you can, not harsh and severe but reserved, beautiful, a winter's morning in an Impressionist painting, a lovers' farewell at a train station. They can't put it all together the way you can; the unstudied tucked-in ponytail, the non-existent makeup, the gold choker with the oversized bead, the handbags clutched against the side like a shopping list or a bag of groceries. You make it seem so easy, Phoebe. A lover and a fighter, a mother and a designer, everything all at once. Other designers make it look like such hard work, but Phoebe, well, you make it look like glorious, glorious play.

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the first

purple diary

The first thing that I thought when I saw this collection was: drape. The second, was silk and the third was the shoes, but they kind of tie into the first idea, really. What a collection for Phoebe Philo to showcase just how much of a master she is over proportion. Not everyone is going to like it, but Philo has really modernised that commes des garcons/junya avant garde take on outsized fashion, and rendered it completely wearable for today. I think some of it comes from her just having had a baby. The shapes are forgiving and the fabrics skim. The shoes are flat - strappy, pool sliders, occasionally embellished with some funky bling - and remind me a lot of that first The Row collection, when Mary-Kate and Ashley sent out a barrage of perfectly tailored trousers and frock coats with thick-strapped leather sandals. I don't mind them, and I like the tension between them and the clothes. It's like Philo has captured that moment when a woman gets through the front door, kicks off her heels and slides into some slippers, wandering into the kitchen for a cup of tea still in her evening clothes.

The thing is that not everyone gets Phoebe Philo. Everyone gets Celine, that is, they get the bags and the jewellery and the sunglasses and the shoes. But the clothes? The clothes with those thousand-dollar price tags and their slouchy fit and their outsized gambit? Not so much. They'd rather have a luggage bag and call it a day. But there is SO much more to Celine than accessories. In fact, as much as I love the bags (and I live for the bags), I would give them all up in a heartbeat for a wardrobe of Phoebe Philo Celine clothes. And this collection is no exception. It's so in-tune with exactly how I want to dress when I'm grown up and fabulous, it's so in-tune with that MK&A way of wearing big things on little people and turning it into a business at The Row, and it's always consistently outside of a fashion mold, even when it's setting that mold, that you have to admire it. There are so many things that Philo has done in this collection that show the growth at Celine since the start. This is the collection with the least amount of leather in it and even the least amount of cotton, linen and canvas. The focus is on that beautiful, drapey silk, molten liquid falling across the body in one fluid line. This collection has hardly any runway bags, just a few scrunchy leather clutches - enlarged versions of her famous tri pochette - like some sort of glamourised paper bag. This collection takes what is essentially a winter colour palette and makes it summer, first through those sandals, then through the silk, and lastly through shapes of such ease and breeze that you wouldn't be mad to wear their them poolside at cabo. In fact, the whole crux of Philo's design method is how she takes staid ideas and renders them so modern they are quite shocking. This collection is, actually, very sporty, probably the sportiest she has ever done. It's got mesh vents and side splits and cropped sweaters and sleeveless cuts. But it's sporty like you've never seen before, which of course is the point.

And, unsurprisingly, I love it. I love it because, from a personal point of view, Celine has become one of the few brands - alongside The Row and occasionally Stella McCartney - that actually present clothes that adhere to my own standard of dress. I live for that oversized cut, that slouchy swagger, that silhouette of a girl in a drapey top with her hands shoved in the pockets of her silky track pants. I love it because every one of those lithe, long-limbed models had a face that was scrubbed free of makeup. I know they probably weren't scrubbed free, and that someone backstage was spending hours liberally applying radiance cream, but god Julia Nobis looked tired, which I kind of like. If, as one critic once posed, every Celine girl is actually crafted in the image of Philo herself (think Daria in last season's campaign!), then why not give the girls a centre part and bags under their eyes? And we end up back at the fact that Philo has just given birth... People often muse that the problem with male designers is that they never understand the female form. They either design for a sexual ideal, a motherly ideal, or a friendly ideal. In many ways this is true. I think that a key strength of a female designer, which Philo has proved in her collection, is not only to understand the female form but the female mind. You've just given birth, what would be the ultimate thing to wear? Some silken lounge pants and a drapey sweater. People may not like this collection, they may not even understand it, but I'll put some money down right now that this is going to sell like mad.

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big, bigger, biggest

purple diary

My mum has a great coat. It's massive. It's cashmere. It's camel. It's long. It's warm. It looks like it's fresh out of a 90s thriller like Patriot Games. She wore it on her Grand tour of Europe with her best friend, and then later when she took me when I was a little thing. As with everything good in her wardrobe, it now belongs to me, but I wear it to far less glamorous places, like the Beresford hotel and Mickey's Cafe. But I don't wear it that much because the size has always been off-putting. I do love an oversized cut an extra-wide silhouette but, like most people I find it difficult to work out just how to make it work. I never know quite how to play with proportion, especially with something that big - do you try a big/small thing with cropped trousers and a fitted sweater? Or do you just embrace the thing for what it is and wear all your favourite cosy pieces that truly embody the description "tent-like"? These are the pressing issues of keenly felt sartorial urgency that dominate my waking hours. 

Once again, as always, Phoebe Philo points us in the right direction. Her new winter collection for Celine is replete with slacks with swagger, out-sized toppers and wide, almost cowl-like turtlenecks. The pants and the tops were nice, of course, and there was something quite sporty about the structured zip necklines and the graphic racing stripes that were slicked, paint-like down side-seams. But it was the coats that really made an impact. They had swagger and movement and, with the collar turned up and hands thrust deep into the pockets they were mysterious yet casual all at the same time. One spectacular number had a glossy burgundy fur collar against a navy blue wool outer. They had a touch of the 80s technicolour to them, and quite a large dash of 90s XXL minimalism. And then there was something else. That nonchalant, getting-shit-done, deep pockets, rolled up sleeves, nice-and-warm-to-keep-you-from-catching-a-cold kind of sensibility that Philo has in spades. It might be because she doesn't really care too much about "fashion" such as it is, or it might just be that she has other things on her mind. But no matter what, hail or shine, pregnancy or none, Philo always gets the coats dead right. Massive. Cashmere. Long. Warm. Fresh out of a 90s thriller. Practically perfect in every way.

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here and there with Celine

I have to thank Stevie for introducing me to this editorial, which is kind of perfect. Kind of perfect just like the Juergen Teller advertisements, which everyone seems to hate but I love, because there's nothing better than Celine that's grainy and out of focus and so real. "Unapologetic" is what Oyster calls them. Unapologetic and unassuming. One of the things about Celine is that it functions best away from hi-res and flash and the world of gloss. It's best on the backs of wealthy editors, or on the arms of harried students, or just out and about, here and there.

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I'm wishing

one: celine 

two: porselli ballet flats, karen walker sunglasses, repossi ring, acne tee shirt, celine bag, hope news trousers, cos bra and knickers, ileana makri anklet x 2, jordy askill heart ring, 3.1 philip lim jacket

We just got this Celine bag in at work (picture one, not the colourway in the polyvore) and it is beautiful. The bastard child of the box bag and the luggage tote, it is the most totally chic thing I've ever seen. I've just been picking it up and touching all day - it hasn't lost any of its appeal. There's something about its glossy leather, the luxury of the embossed croc pattern, the exaggerated elongated shape that hangs perfectly down by your side as you walk. One of the Editors at the magazine I intern at has this bag and she just strides into work carrying this on her arm, in a Haider Ackermann jumpsuit like it ain't no thang. Incredible. Is this what it's like to be glamorous? Is this what it feels like? Just holding this bag for a few glorious moments in my tatty black work clothes made me feel really special. At $2450 it's a wish - definitely, definitely a wish - and not a reality, but still. I can't help but thinking that in 10 years when I'm fabulous and successful and generally a real "boss" how amazing it will be to stride into work carrying this on my arm, in a Haider Ackermann jumpsuit like it ain't no thang...

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pochette

sometimes i feel so happy

I've been seeing a lot of people using clutches as wallets recently. Not replacing bags, but rather using them as a means of organising their accessory life - when filled with all the necessities it is easier to locate things in the depths of a capacious bag. I've been toying with the idea of doing this with one of the pochettes on my Celine bag, but I have to say I'm a little nervous about what might happen to the little guy if it's lumped into a huge bag and expected to fend for itself. The idea is attractive though. I am constantly losing things in my bags and I end up hoisting them onto my knee and rummaging around with reckless abandon, searching for keys or headphones or a pen or something of such sort. It's very undignified. On Saturday I had to squat down in the middle of the condiments aisle at Thomas Dux searching for my phone which I could hear and feel ringing yet for the life of me could not find in my bag. Damn thing. At least if everything was inside a pouch I'd know where it all was and could get at it instantly. This is a good idea right? And a nice burgundy colour would present itself quite easily against the black lining of my bag. The only thing is, is that I have a very good wallet that I love and I'm not quite sure I'm ready to give it up quit yet. It's so capacious and it's a lovely olive green colour. I'm very fond of it, I have to say. I might give this a trial for one week and get back to you.

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Celine goes to brunch

my photos

I picked up this little guy on my last trip to Paris, ostensibly for my 21st, but mostly because it is oh so beautiful. The tri-pochette first entered my head as a viable alternative to the two-tone pochette when I saw Phoebe Philo carrying one at the CFDA awards, strap tucked inside, like it ain't no thang. She looked so fabulous and I loved the way each pouch puffed out. This wine-coloured piece is so rich and sumptuous in real life, the perfect foil to navy blue (surely the it colour combination this season if the acne collection is anything to go by!). Celine's first foray into the world was last Friday, where she had dinner at Mamak, drinks at Ravesis, and then dirty dancing at White Revolver (predictably it all went downhill from there). Today I was laughing with my friend about the fact that "Celine does not go to White Revolver". Celine goes to Brunch. And Celine drinks dirty martinis at the Commons. Celine enjoys red wine and mushroom pizza at Love Supreme, and dried fig and cinnamon toasted granola from Room 10. Celine shops at blood orange and wears Frederic Malle Edition Parfum Lipstick Rose. Celine takes long lunches. Celine does not catch buses. Celine does not have chipped nail polish. Celine drinks really strong coffee. Celine only buys groceries at Thomas Dux... Expect a bit of a jokey post on this, complete with pictures of Celine doing said activities some time in the future. Celine always keeps her promises!

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ps this is my 1000th post. I wanted to share something really special with you guys and this is truly something special. Thanks for reading and sharing it with me. I mean it more than I can say.

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